Trish, I like you but I totally disagree that MTTest is the best
Posted By: Recruiter on 2005-10-20
In Reply to: Universal MT Testing - Trish Merrill
way to find a good MT. I know as fact my way works and it does not waste hours of a person's time. I get good people because I know what to ask and how to screen people. If more recruiters knew how to do it, they would not have to waste all that time too
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Totally disagree
Only because I have a neighbor in her 50s, she's tall, still thin, not a wrinkle, so obviously she has kept herself up. Its not about age, but about wearing the right clothes for the right shape. She wears tanks, and also long form fitting dresses, very stylish and i've also seen her wear shorts. I hope to look so good when i'm in my 50s. Of course if she were out of shape, dying her hair the wrong shade and wore black eye liner, it would be a whole different story. 50 is supposedly the new 30. But if you have as great of a figure as you did in your 20s as you do in 50s, show a little of it off, we don't die once we reach the age of 40!
Totally disagree
Eliminating absolutely everything a kid can get hurt on is turning our children into fat, soft, weak sissies. Most schools have already done away with recess and then wonder why kids can't sit still in class - label them all with ADD and drug them up on Ritalin. Remember getting 2 recess periods plus lunch hour to run and play? I never knew a hyper kid throughout school! We played (and fell off) the monkey bars, got thrown off the merry-go-round, tried to jump off a swing going too high, sprained ankles, had cool casts. We jumped bikes over ramps made out of plywood and a couple of cinderblocks, sleigh rode down hills so steep we had to tie a rope to get up the hill, had "spotters" watching for traffic on the 2 cross streets we had to cross once we hit the straight stretch at the bottom. We walked across railroad bridges without hand rails (the horror!) about 150 feet up to get to the best swimming hole on the other side. Fell down hills, skinned knees in bike wrecks, fell out of trees, had homemade swings made of rope break and knock the breath out of us. Dodgeball was fun!!!! There were always some girls who could hit so hard it would leave a red welt the size of a basketball, but it was still fun. We had spotters for trampolines in gym class, but they ALWAYS moved back of somebody looked like they were going to fall. We ran laps in the bleachers. We camped out on the riverbank without sunblock or mosquito spray, didn't worry about the snakes, saw them all the time. We swam in creeks way back when some cesspools still drained into them (and never caught any funky intestinal disease). We rode dirtbikes, wrecked, laughed, got up and rode some more. We hit the door at daylight and came back after dark, usually bruised, exhausted, but anxious to do the same the next day. What do lots of folks do with their children now?? Don't get dirty, don't do that, you might fall. Sit down, stop running around. Girls playing football??? (I did). People don't let their kids get out and play anymore. Getting minor injuries is all part of that. I have a weak ankle to this day from jumping out of trees into leaf piles and getting at least one sprain every fall. Now the most injury a kid risks is carpal tunnel from holding a video game controller all day. We ate raw cake and cookie dough, ate potato salad that had been out more than an hour, cut up turkey and chicken right on the counter and never got salmonella. I feel really sorry for kids now because they can't be kids!!! They just don't make the friends they used to and get out and get tired and dirty. They are kept in the house, kept totally clean in front of some electronic box to entertain them. We had bears and mountain lions all around our house, rattle snakes, copper heads, etc., and still would hike way up in the mountains. Just about every time we swam a snake would swim right by. Kids are going to get hurt and it's unfortunate that some do get serious injuries, but we can't just outlaw and discontinue every single thing that might cause an injury. I read recently some states are stopping even playing tag because of the emotional damage caused by not ever being it...gimme a break!!
I totally disagree with you.
I earned my Medical Transcription Degree by an online school and it was the most thorough schooling I have ever had. When I was attending a brick and mortar school a few years back, I took a transcription course and it didn't teach me anything. The online schooling was much more thorough.
I totally disagree....sm
because MTs, when doing VR, are editing and correcting the document that the VR system is putting on the screen. Lots of work, whereas the QA corrects only the blanks and the little errors the MTs missed and not even all of them.
VR editing is much more strenuous than QA editing.
totally disagree
Give me an example of when a patient's life was on the line due to a d__med hyphen or a number that was spelled out or written as a number. QA people, not all, but most have to do this to justify their jobs. I also agree that AHDI has made changes regarding things that we learned from grade school on up to college, i.e., correct grammar, punctuation, etc.. I too also feel that AHDI has to justify its existence.
I totally disagree -- politely :)
Because of the changes coming with world-wide standardization of coding and the yearly changes in the verbage of codes, deletions and additions due to ever changing medical technology, I believe it to be as interesting and complex, if not more so, than MTing. To be a certified coder, you have to put your neck on the line for jail time...do we do that as MTs? No, we make the provider take responsibility for the finished product. The Office of Inspector General holds both the provider and the coder responsible. With 21 years of varied medical setting experience under my belt, I say even MTing is not as satisfying as winning a debate of a coding issue during an audit with Medicare or Medicaid and setting the standard for the rest of the industry in that particular state for that code.
I totally disagree with the statement that
"With VR, one MT can do the work of 2-3 MTs doing straight transcription." I can type just as fast as I can do VR at a rate of about 300 lines per hour and transcription pays twice as much as VR. Its just not fair or right. VR is NOT a lot faster and sometimes I get a report in VR that is so messed up that it would be easier to erase the whole thing and retype it. But if I do that, I'm still only going to get paid at the VR rate. Isn't that lovely? VR is FAR from replacing transcriptionists.
I so totally disagree. I have worked with lots of men who are transcriptionists... They are awesome
x
It was the mttest.
The company asked me to take it through mttest. I'm beginning to think it was the new rules I'm not aware of!
The mttest
was designed by Career Step. If you didn't graduate from their program, I think you are at a disadvantage taking the test.
For Trish....
This makes sense, thank you!
For Trish......
'We have to stay ahead of the technology', sure we have to, because if the technology gets better than the human MT, then technology renders the MT obsolete.
So it is all about striking a balance, like...'be good, but don't get better than I am because this would eliminate me.'
I think that in the years to come this will be the future of VR and technology will prevail.
Trish
Hey, I know what you're talking about. Before I know it, a half hour has passed and there goes my required line count for the night. It's hard to give up though once you have invested some time in trying to find the right word and I have a real hang-up about using blanks and/or sending report to QA, I try TOO hard sometimes to reach 100% accuracy, wish I could say the same about reaching my line count. Google is a lot faster than searching through the books though,
mttest asking SSN after screening
x
I've done mttest for quite a few companies,
but none have ever asked for SSN at the end. I would either leave it blank, or send a message to tech support listed at the bottom, asking what you could put in there to make it go through, but that is too private to put over the net, when you don't know what they're doing with that after a test. It's not an offer, it's a test. They don't need your SSN.
For Trish: That's great!. See inside..
More or less VR is still in the beginning stages and doctors are not very enthusiastic about this idea, so I read and heard.
As we already stated VR is far from perfect and puts still a lot of strain on the MT editing VR.
But VR is the future of medical transcription and the sooner MTs jump on board the better it is for them; VR technology will get better and better.
I heard that some doctors even prefer to do their own dicating a n d editing and if the VR technology improves, a lot of them will do it.
Trish, check your spelling, both inside and out....lol.
x
Dear Trish: Thank you for your feedback. One more question, see inside:
Isn't every MT who does VR editing a 'low-key' QA, correcting the VR system?
And I would disagree with what I often read by people who advertise VR, that VR 'completely' obsoletes keyboarding. This is definitely not the case; it minimizes but does not erase it. Sometimes it is better to delete the whole sentence VR produced and type it anew than make all the necessary deletions.
That mttest website is terrible. Companies that use that test in my opinion
are just lazy. They need to make up their own test based on their own rules. Much on that test also is about commas and the newer rules are that we don't use that many of them so you could fail over things that just are not that important. Don't sweat it! If they based hiring you on that test site, then the co is not too bright. I have taken the test and passed but I think it is a horrible test for anyone. I think a better way of testing is testing someone's actual knowledge of medical terminology like a phone test. That also guarantees to a company that it is actually you taking the test. I think it is Spheris that has given a phone test ever since they were Edix and the old Your Office Genie also gave a phone test. That speaks wonders of what is in your head.
Anytime I've tested, it's always been the same test on mttest.com, or careerstep. See if you c
s
Totally Special, totally HOT! NM
z
I disagree
Edix/Spheris pays a bonus based on production and QA. The MQ office I worked for didn't give a rats bottom about QA, it was LINES LINES LINES and they paid production bonuses. My company expects the lines with NO bonus, NO shift differential, NO weekend differential, and NO OT. What you download you are expected to do, doesn't matter if it's 200 reports, you better have them done.
I have to disagree with you.
I think that people actually like it. That is the thing. I care a lot if the people are fat and ugly. It is such a weird concept to me. Being extremely thin and beautiful, I can't stand that. I mean, what is the harm in getting plastic surgery or gastric bypass? It will be a very hard thing for me to do.
I would have to disagree with you...
I have lived in California for most of my life and now for the last 6 years have lived in New England. Yes, it's expensive but not nearly as expensive as California, especially Southern California. For instance, a small tract house with 1200 square feet and no yard whatsoever, lined up like sardines in a can, will run you about 450,000. We have a 4 bdrm 3ba, in ground pool,1.4 acres, 2,300 sq ft house worth 300,000. The reason most of theNortheast is so expensive is the high tax burden, with the exception of New Hampshire,which has the lowest tax burden of all 50 states. One thing that is horribly expensive is college tuition, even community college is ridiculous compared to California.
I disagree with you. SM
As the other poster said -- if they're all that concerned, they need to (a) watch who they hire (b) provide the equipment.
No way on this earth I'd grant that kind of access to my computer. They'll have to find another way to calm their fears.
I disagree... (sm)
I believe Silent Type is a totally family based, oriented firm and found them most pleasant to work for before starting my own business.
I disagree
I have been an MT for a fair few years. One of the reasons I chose this career was because of the "bright" outlook. I believed that there really was a shortage of MTs in this country and jobs aplenty. Plenty of MTSOs are hiring, but trying to get my own account has been like pulling teeth. I have had to move out of my city, then out of my state, and now am calling surrounding states looking for work. I have excellent qualifications and reasonable rates, and I can tell you, nobody is interested.
I disagree (sm)
My husband loves it when I tell him I pretend that he's naked. 
I mean, wow, lighten up. I doubt ilovejackbauer is some kind of pedophile so I'm sure it was just a harmless suggestion. This world has gotten way too sensitive.
I have to disagree with
I worked set hours at home with an infant that I was nursing...yes I did! When he needed a change or to be nursed, I took the few minutes, changed him, latched him on, and continued working. It's hard, but not downright impossible. We are women, we can do anything we set our minds to. Good luck to the OP!!!
Disagree - that's all!
x
I have to disagree
My live-in BF's exwife used to do the online game instead and he hated it. No time with him or daughter. He is now pretty much doing the same thing to me with his model airplanes and helicopters. When he works on them and deals with them he does it and nothing else. He is very single minded. If not flying it is working on them, surfing the net for them, talking about them, etc. I have just about had it as well. He says that at least he does not go out to bars and drink. Well if you are not spending time with me and kids and not helping me do things around the house so that I am tired and stressed it is all the same to me. I have been there on both and just because they are not cheating, drinking, drugging, etc does not mean it is okay. If you need attention and help you need it no matter what their reasoning is or hobby is in this case. You have to balance your time. I say what if all I did was play my games or shop or go to the bookstore and had no time for anyone or house work. I have to balance it so that we all function relatively well. It should be equal play time for both of you and equal other stuff too.
I disagree
It involved her when her husband decided to share the info with her. AND they involved him when they brought him into their little THANG. Don't for a minute think it is innocent, or else she would have called his wife to ask where he was at. I think if the OPs husband doesn't set his friend straight about not wanting to be involved in this crap then he is not beyond suspicion. JMO.
And, do you want some unwritten code making a fool out of YOU if your man should decide to start doing the same and his friends (your friends also) know about it!?!?!?!?!?! Come on.
Sorry disagree
Your creditors have the RIGHT to not work with a credit counseling agency. I tried this route also before Chapter 13 and several chose not to work with them. Most of the major ones do but some do not. This is a profitable business that is paying your bills for you working out a credit plan for you and if you miss ONE payment they have the right to drop you and many will. They also monitor the usage or your credit card use, etc. Again, there are always two sides to everything but some of my creditors did chose not to work with the agency. I was told by one of the biggest Credit Counseling Agencies that though most "do work with them, some chose not to and they do not have to as you are the one that agreed to pay back the debt not the credit counseling agency." But they do have to accept a Chapter 13 order. So again, look at all the facts and make your choice. The biggest agency I talked to was the higest for their fees and really did not save me much with my payment but the interest and late fees stopped. Also if they negotiate a plan to reduce the balance due -- beware that if a credit card compay writes off any amount of the debt -- say that they will settle for 50% of the $10,000 that you owe, then they will issue you a 1099C - cancellation of debt - for the $5,000 that you are not paying and you will have to include that as income on your taxes for the year. So there are several pitfalls with some of these agencies, just ask the right questions and do some research. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Patti
I would have to disagree with you
I just took a job that offered me 7.5 cents per line to start. I just finished my online training for MT at the beginning of August. It can happen, although I applied to every company I could find. I did the legwork and now the offers are rolling in.
disagree
depends on the companies ethics, method of counting, etc. I can do mooocho lines on escription platform but suck on any other platform.
I disagree with others, I think 12 is low
Some MTs make that from a service so you can imagine what the service is charging and they are paying it. With picking up, delivering, printing? 12 cpl is selling yourself way short IMO. Not to mention bringing down the rates overall for others. I would not do it for less than 14 cpl. And if they won't pay that, work for a service that will pay you 10 or 11 cpl, without all the headaches.
I disagree with you
You are very opinionated.
I disagree. sm
I've been in both situations - one punitive, and one that rewards MTs extra efforts. Reward is far more motivating than punishment. Punitive management styles just make employees tense, demoralized, and even more apt to make further mistakes. If it goes on long enough, they become resentful and angry. Ultimately they leave. The way to keep good employees, and to turn marginal ones into better ones, is to reward them for a job well done.
I disagree
...if you Google "new hires" every instance that comes up seems to related to new employees. This was also heard spoken by the Human Resources department.
Diane
I would have to disagree.
an IC work a set schedule. Unfortunately with this OP being an employee, she must adhere to the strict work schedule. As an IC, you are not required to work set hours, and if you are being told to do that, then you are an employee and not an IC. Someone on this particular board posted a link to a court action suit brought against a company classifying an employee as an IC, but was in the wrong because that is considered control due to the fact the work was required back in 24 hours. Believe it or not, but I read it myself on this board.
Think about it as a plumber. When the IC plumber comes to your house, gives you an estimate, do you say to him, now I want this work completed at such and such a time (strict schedule)? No, the plumber tells you I'll be there between the hours of 9 and 5, and the work can be completed in such and such amount of time given there is no unforeseen problems, etc.
Now with MT, the usual TAT is 24 hours, but as an IC, you should be able to transcribe that work within that amount of time, but not work a set schedule even if that means typing for 15 minutes, take an hour break, and then type for 15 minutes.
I am soooooo glad the company I work (only one) as I have my own accounts, knows the true meaning of IC. A lot of these MTSO's do not know the true meaning.
Furthermore, the accounts I have on my own do not require 24-hour TAT, so that is also something an MTSO will play on when in all honesty they actually have 48 hours or even 72 hours to complete the work. I'm there, I'm doing it, and I know it to be true! My accounts are happy with 48 hour TAT. I QA my own work, which is also another problem in this field. If there were not so many chiefs making demands, I think the Indians could have more time to do their "hunting" for their bounty! 24-hour TAT should be for STAT requests only.
I'd have to disagree.
I am my own team. I am not part of anyone's team because if I was, then I'd get the benefits "the team" gets. With that said, yes I will charge for faxing and taking the time to do things other than typing. And, NO, in 10 years, the physicians I type for ask no questions as they charge fees for their different services as well, filling out workers' comp forms, etc.
So I encourage transcriptionists to charge as such. If you price your line rate high, they will outsource to a large company that they can pay less, so this may work for you, but not necessarily is the norm. JMO.
I disagree.
For example, Medquist requires 150 lines per hour for full time with benefits, which is a 1200 line 8-hour day, and that includes ASR. There are high producers who are hitting those numbers, but they are the minority, especially now. Your numbers are great and certainly what I aim for, but may be daunting to someone just getting started if they think that is the norm.
I'm getting paid!
http://boostyourincometoday.blogspot.com/
I have to disagree with you a little on this one...sm
I don't think our profession was "dumbed-down" by people who can't (or won't) do ESLs. It has been dumbed down by the big companies who make the rules and know nothing about actual transcription.
If the companies would tell the clients they need to make their doctors dictate clearly, this would be a moot point. The companies need to come down on the clients and the clients need to come down on their doctors. Dictation not clearly dictated is 99.9% of the problem in any of the transcription I have seen or done in my 17+ years of doing this... both MT and QA.
If you can't understand the doctor due to a heavy accent, background noise, poor quality equipment, or whatever, you can't transcribe an accurate report.
I have seen a lot of changes in the technology of our profession over the years and by all rights we should be making tons more money because of the advances that have improved our production... but why is it our wages continue to go down?
Part of the problem is companies not paying higher line rates, cutting out headers, footers, cc's, etc., but I think the biggest problem of all is how sloppy dictation has been allowed to get by all the doctors, but mostly because of all of the ESL doctors we have these days. It used to be that you had one or two on a large account and now I can honestly say that I bet I transcribe probably 80-90% ESLs and many different nationalities.
Yes, we all need to learn how to do some ESLs, but for crying out loud, the companies need to make it a little easier for us to learn them! And just for good measure...since I'm blithering away for nothing anyway...(teehee)... why do WE have to learn them?... why don't they have to LEARN TO SPEAK ENGLISH?
Sorry if I offended anyone... I'm just tired of not hearing a clear-speaking doctor, whether it be a language barrier, a mushmouth, dictating in a busy hallway full of barking dogs, whatever... I'm just sick of it. It didn't used to be this way. Doctor's used to be polite when they dictated and it showed in their reports.
have to disagree again
I have no help from anyone.. There is no husband in my home to help with my children. I only have on in school, and then still have an 18 month old who is at home full time. I dont believe in allowing others to raise my children, when i am home and perfectly capable of caring for them. Some days, my youngest will sit on the floor by my desk and "work" with me, using an old keyboard i have.
Some days, my children are content to watch TV in the other room, some days they arent. It is a matter of what you as an individual are willing to do in order to make things work, that is all.
And I disagree with you
My two IM's prior to using my company, did use a call in system for several years but after coming to me he told me he would never go back as there was no comparison as to quality, TAT and their satisfaction, I have talked to them several times about digital as I am set up to do digital and do it for overflow to an old MTs that I used to work for, but they prefer the tapes. So be it. If it makes them happy, that is fine for me. They are stand alone doctors, and they do not like the large companies. I know that they have been called, e-mailed, etc. but they chose to stay with me. Like I said, I am not cocky, I appreciate and count my blessing but if they chose to stay with tapes that is fine. They need the chart notes back on sticky paper anyway so I would continue to deliver and the office staff is overworked enough and would not put it onto them to print the notes. I actually like getting out and delivering and talking to them. My surgical oncologists do not even have a computer in the office to do the scheduling, they use an old fashion appointment book and write in their schedules. And I have talked with them about digital but they like it. Only have 5 more years before I retire so we will see what they do. And my price is fair, they pay on time, never a bounced check so we go on as such.
Sorry disagree
#1 - I have a back up computer, transcriber, printer, you just plan for this. You have to be ready for all and everything. I have been down only one day for computer problems in the past 3 years and that was because one acount I send out via internet, Comcast was down for 12 hours. But if I am, I make it up over the next few days, the work is still there to do.
#2 - When I am sick my accounts are very understanding and though it does not happen often it does but no problem. Work is there the next day. And they do not rush me to get it back.
#3 - My docs provide me with free care and samples of prescriptions. Saves a lot on my high deductible. Plus my insurance premiums are paid through my company. Deductible.
#4 - I contrbute off the top to my retirement fund.
#5 - I do depreciate my house as I know I will be in it for two years past retirement.
#6 - Holiday/vacation/sick -- I average those into my cpl and charge that. And I charge a reasonable rate to my clients. They have all been with me for over 10 to 18 years. Suppose they could leave suddenly but then your hospital based job could be gone in a flash also, that is life.
#7 - Again I pay less than 10% to taxes and that is with 15% for social security. And I make good money, I would LOOSE money to work inhouse in a hospital and I have figured it out when offered a job. I would not have the lifestyle that I have now and I am single supporting myself with a house payment, etc.
So to each their own, like I said.
You can disagree...but
you obviously did not read my post. The *first* thing I said was to get medical attention. Regardless of what you may think, I am very fond of depression myself. I was diagnosed with clinical depression (yes, the kind where you don't get out of bed) at 17 and have struggled with it since. I am 26. I have also been diagnosed with OCD. Trust me, I know depression. I have been off an on antidepressants since 17, at which time, they saved my life, literally.
There are other aspects to depression, though. If you are not willing to take the steps to get help and take control of your life...then it will contine to get worse.
The main point I wanted to address in my post was a person needs to take care of themselves...take care of the basics. That is a daily choice, although a very difficult one to achieve with depression, BUT not impossible.
My advice:
1. Get seen by a doctor.
2. Get a job.
3. Make the daily choices necessary get the first two things done.
Disagree, disagree, disagree
LIke I explain to my accounts which I have had for the past 20 years, I allot so much time per day for their account. If they do not give me consistent tapes, then I cannot use that time and carry it over to the next day when they decide to double up on their tapes. I am relying on that dictation for my pay. Just like when a patient does not show up. But again, my accounts were obtained and we went over everything and they are considered "daily accounts." I have had a couple and when they drop down to nothing, I will inquire as I need to know if I need to search out another account to supplement my income. I would just nicely ask when I could expect dictation as I need to make out my monthly schedule, etc. Also if they are not going to use me on a daily basis then I need to reasses my TAT and my price. But to me, you need to find out what is going on unless you are happy with it this way. I do not like the unknown, and need to know what I will be receiving daily so I can plan out my schedule and time. I do not think you were out of line and once I even asked if they wanted their letterhead and envelopes returned as it was apparent that they were using a different service as I had not received anything for a month. So if it was up to me I would find out either through the doctor or through the manager. Maybe someone in the office is sending it to someone else and the doctor thinks you are doing it and so that is why he looked at you funny. Anyway the call is yours, but I would definitely want to know what was going on. Let us know what you do and find out.
Disagree!
I won a gift card from that site and received it, $50. My experience was great!
I would disagree that it's
possible to do that many lines on full edit consistently. If that included quite a few blanks-only or experienced MTs maybe, but 4800 lines of full-edits a day on new MTs? Not gonna happen if you want quality. QAs need to be paid hourly rather than production anyway if your ultimate goal is true Quality Assurance rather than quantity, and 3 cpl like I read somewhere above is laughable.
Yes, of course! That is because I disagree...
And I, along with others here, are sick of listening to the whining. If you think you can make changes in the MT industry, then go for it! This is not the place where those changes will take place. You need to create your own site where you can explain what you believe is happening to the industry and direct people to that site. See what feedback you get. See what changes you can make with NON-MTs, okay.
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